A good web design can be the cheapest and most effective marketing method for your business. Commercially there is much more to web design than just designing a website. Business websites should be designed and optimised to help them get found on the search engines, thus increasing their business potential. This involves sophisticated techniques that are used to get as high a ranking as possible when someone is using a search engine to search for a product or service.

"The number of visits made to the UK by overseas residents in 2005 was 30.0 million, with visitors spending a record £14.2 billion." Government National Statistics.

Why do i need a website, well if you're from Australia and you're going to holiday in the UK. You'll want to find out about the accommodation, the restaurants, car hire, transport, etc. before traveling. And where do you go for all this information? The Internet! You're going to visit the Cotswold's, all you need to do is to type in a relevant search term such as <Cotswold's hotel> and within a few seconds you'll have at your disposal a wealth of information about hotel accommodation in the locality. And if your business is not on the Internet the Australian tourists will not be using your business!

The Internet is recognised as one of the most cost effective forms of advertising available - soon every business will appear there in some form, and if your competitors get there first, then you could be missing out on potentially valuable custom.

One of the most important reasons for having your own website is probably to generate awareness, A website of your own will promote your organisation 24 hours every day, seven days each week, and to the whole world. Nothing else offers this flexibility.

Another important reasons could be for online business, Direct sales over the web are also possible via credit card purchases. Alternatively, one of your website pages can be structured as an order form for the customer to print out at home and send back with a cheque or their credit details.

One of the reasons that small businesses go online is that a well designed website can have just the same presence on the web as a multi-national corporation. The internet offers all businesses, large or small, the same opportunities to market their products, services and information. Larger businesses see it as a way to reinforce not only their brand, but also as a way to reinforce an image of leadership and potential.

Website design is the most crucial of all the marketing media at your disposal. All other forms of advertising (business cards, brochures, etc.) can be patterned after your website design layout. To attract prospective clients/customers who are surfing the Internet, your site must draw them in and hold their attention until your desired result is achieved. Like a good writer telling a story, you need to grab and hold the reader's attention.
Other opportunities are only a mouse click away, so a poorly designed website can quickly become a faint memory as the prospect speeds away to another destination. A solidly designed website, appealing in content and appearance, will draw the client back for regular visits and will create word of mouth traffic as well.

Designing Web pages is easy. Designing a good website is difficult. A professional Web designer has a background in graphic design, knowledge of HTML and other design programming languages (such as JavaScript, ColdFusion, Dynamic HTML, ASP, etc.). More importantly, a professional designer understands how to design a website that will most effectively present you, your business or organization, and your products and services.